


make this house our home

by moonsuhs



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Married Characters, Moving In Together, the lack of hyuckil fluff?? is atrocious????, they are so cute and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28590708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonsuhs/pseuds/moonsuhs
Summary: It takes Taeil less than a day in their new, empty apartment to realize it isn’t the furniture or the decor that feels like home, it’s just Donghyuck. And that’s all he really needs.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil
Comments: 12
Kudos: 72





	make this house our home

**Author's Note:**

> this was an idea i’ve been sitting on for months but for a different pairing and after hearing From Home I thought it fit these two better and so now, here we are! my heartfelt offering of hyuckil fluff loosely based on the from home lyrics but mostly based on balanced relationship dynamics and wholesome domesticity. enjoy <33
> 
> a/n: unimportant to the story/ambiguous but they are ~5 years older here, coworkers, married and have been together for a significant period of time.

“This is it, the last one.” Taeil kicks the door shut behind him as he heaves the box onto the countertop, landing with a thud. “It’s too heavy, you must’ve packed it.”

He hears a scoff from the other room. “Are you insulting my box packing skills or saying my recent gym membership is paying off?”

“Both,” he calls back, grinning, before following the laughter he earns in response.

Down the hall, in what’s going to be the bedroom, he finds Donghyuck sprawled in the middle of the floor, arms and legs stretched out like a starfish. “What are you doing on the floor?” he asks, but walks over to join him anyway.

“Just enjoying the space before we have to rebuild the furniture,” Donghyuck answers, like it should be obvious. 

Taeil hums as he crouches to sit down, legs stuck out in front of him and leaning back on his wrists. The floor is a little dusty, but it’s warm from the sun that shines through the big window that had drawn them both in when they’d first viewed the listing. 

It’s only a few seconds before Donghyuck wiggles his head onto his thigh, looking up at him with bright, sparkling eyes that _still_ make Taeil’s heart flutter a little, even after years. He cards a hand through Donghyuck’s grown out bangs, smiling as he closes his eyes and pushes into it like a cat.

While he dozes, nose pressed to his hip, Taeil glances around the nearly empty room. “We could put the bed,” he lifts his hand to gesture at the wall to their left, opposite the door, “there, maybe. Or facing the window, so it’s not too bright in the morning.”

Donghyuck waits for the hand to be returned to his head, but when it doesn’t come back, he sits up with a reluctant grumble. “We don’t have to worry about that yet. We just got here, Taeil-ah.”

Taeil chuckles. “I know, but if we don’t, we won’t have a bed to sleep on tonight.”

“Is that so bad?” Donghyuck replies, scooting back to lay flat on the ground again and fold his arms under his head. “I slept on a mattress on the floor for a week when I moved into my first apartment.”

Taeil rolls his eyes even though Donghyuck’s own are closed again. “Why does that not surprise me.”

A smirk spreads across Donghyuck’s face, eyes still determinedly shut. “I don’t know, it should.”

With a poke to his side that catches him off guard and makes him squeal, Taeil triumphantly gets to his feet. Before he can go far, however, a hand latches around his ankle that almost sends him straight to the floor again, head whipping around to scold him.

“Where are you going?” Donghyuck pouts before he can say anything, a complete flip from his sassy comment a second earlier.

Taking a deep breath, Taeil bites down the sharp remark on his tongue and opts for a telling scowl, to which Donghyuck only bats his eyelashes and Taeil knows he can’t be mad at him when he looks like that. They both know it. That’s how many of their petty squabbles end, if not most.

“Just to the living room, Hyuckie. You don’t have to try and kill me.” In a flash, Donghyuck is off the floor and in front of him, fingers finding his and intertwining blindly.

“To _our_ living room,” he corrects with a sweet smile, before promptly dragging him through the doorway and into the main room.

Taeil lets himself be dragged along. “Ours,” he hums as they stand in the center of it. Their new couch hadn’t been delivered yet, or any of the furniture for that matter, but there were a few boxes labelled LIVING ROOM to confirm its intended use. _Our living room. Ours._

There are dust bunnies in the corner, and all of the wood flooring needs a good mopping, but Taeil glances over it without much thought. Instead, he sees them curled up on the couch they picked out together, feet on the old coffee table he’d gotten years ago and wrapped in the knitted blanket Donghyuck’s mom had made him for Christmas one year. He sees himself doing a morning workout on the floor and Donghyuck trying to sit on his back while he does push ups, giggling when he drops one elbow and sends him rolling. He sees _them,_ as they always have been, and yet it’s different.

A faint “Ilie?” pulls him out of his thoughts, and he glances to where Donghyuck is looking back at him. He looks curious, slightly concerned, and Taeil reassures him with a smile.

“I’m so happy we’re doing this,” he tells him, and Donghyuck cocks his head.

“What? Living together? Because we’ve been doing that for years already.”

And they had. Donghyuck broke his lease to move into Taeil’s apartment less than a year into their relationship because it didn’t make sense to pay skyhigh rent for a city center studio when he was barely ever there.

“But this is different.” Taeil looks back to the main room, waving their interlocked hands in front of them. “This is new for both of us, not just my dingy, old apartment I’ve lived in since I was twenty-one and fresh out of college. We picked it together.We signed the lease together. We did this _together.”_

Donghyuck beams at him. “I know,” and then, “I’m happy, too. I love you.”

“I love you,” Taeil repeats, letting Donghyuck drop his hand and replace it among the shorter hair on the back of his neck to go in for a chaste kiss. He pulls back to grin, and Donghyuck presses their foreheads together as they laugh into each other’s mouths. When his lips close for a split second, Donghyuck steals another peck and then leaves one on his nose before leaning back.

His hand slides down Taeil’s shoulder and arm to find his fingers again, thumb running back and forth over the ridges of his knuckles and swinging it gently. Then, a more mischievous smile grows on his lips. “Not to insult your old apartment,” he starts, “because it was fine! But I do like this one a little more.”

Taeil breaks into laughter, brows raising. “A little? Compared to that, this might as well be Hannam-dong.”

“I wasn’t gonna say it,” Donghyuck giggles, but nods in agreement.

“I might have lived there for,” he pauses to count in his head, “what, 10 years? But I was ecstatic to hand those keys back,” Taeil tells him.

“Not the sentimental type, I know, Ilie,” Donghyuck says back, glancing down to stare at their hands.

Taeil remembers how Donghyuck had cried when they’d packed up his things in his old apartment, even though he had promised he was happy. He’d asked him over and over, and every time Donghyuck had sworn _yes, I want to do this, yes, I know it’s my choice, yes, I know you wouldn’t be upset._

It was one of the first times he’d ever seen Donghyuck really cry, and he couldn’t even do anything about it. Thinking about it still made him feel a little guilty.

“It wasn’t that, Hyuck-ah.” He pauses to pull their hands up, Donghyuck’s eyes following along with them as he brings the top of his hand to his lips, pressing into it gently before breathing over it, “I just knew I had better to look forward to. What was there to be sad about?”

The slow glance up and over his knuckles deals the final blow. Donghyuck wails dramatically at the gesture, flinging the back of his other hand over his eyes and pretending to crumble, but Taeil knows he got his point. Everyone handled nerves and apprehension differently, and Donghyuck liked to embrace it while Taeil preferred not to acknowledge it. It didn’t mean he looked at Donghyuck any differently, though, and he wasn’t going to start now.

Donghyuck continues to act faint, and Taeil wiggles his fingers out of his grasp to leave him floundering on his knees, gripping at his heart and giggling like a fool. He knew how to time his more intimate displays of affection for maximum effect, withholding it like a trove of secret weapons for so long that he’d even fooled Donghyuck into thinking he wasn’t very openly affectionate at the beginning of their relationship. Once again, he had perfectly plotted his attack, and once again, he had succeeded.

“Moon Taeil, you are a menace,” he cries after him. 

Pleased, Taeil throws a crinkly-eyed smile over his shoulder. “Only for you, my love.” 

Donghyuck falls over like a dog doing a _bang_ trick, twitching a little and gasping for air before finally succumbing on the dusty laminate. Taeil stifles laughter in his sweater sleeve, a faint flush rising high in his cheeks.

With Donghyuck distracted for a moment, Taeil turns his attention to the boxes stacked in front of the kitchen counters. “If we want to be able to eat tonight,” he calls to Donghyuck’s lifeless body, “we’re gonna need to start unpacking these. I don’t know where the plates are, or the cutlery.”

The corpse rolls over. “Let’s just order food.”

“I thought we were cracking down on budgeting from today?” Taeil turns to raise a brow. “No more takeout or we won’t make our rent payment.”

“ _Ilie,”_ he whines, flailing socked feet against the floor. “One more day won’t hurt. Come on, I don’t wanna cook.”

“You don’t cook anyways,” Taeil snorts, but walks back around the counter. “Fine, but just tonight.”

Donghyuck makes a kissy face, smacking his lips together and then sticks both hands out above him. With a light, exasperated huff, Taeil walks over and drags him halfway across the slippery floor and then to his knees before Donghyuck finally puts his feet down to help.

“You’re lucky I love you, brat,” Taeil bites with no real heat, and Donghyuck successfully lays a wet kiss near his ear before he’s shoved off, cackling.

With as much seriousness as he can muster, Taeil leaves Donghyuck with the simple task of picking something to eat for dinner while he goes about hanging up the clothes they packed in suitcases in the wardrobe. It’s bigger than the one they shared before, and all their work slacks and button-downs fit easily to each side.

The sun disappears behind the skyrise buildings opposite them as he works, and the room feels colder instantly. The ceiling light is brand new and uncomfortably fluorescent when he turns it on, more like his office cubicle than their bedroom should be. He makes a mental note to get lamps instead. 

He sets the empty suitcases to the side and closes the wardrobe doors, satisfied with his progress. They had enough clothes to last a few days, and they could spend the weekend unpacking before going back to work on Monday. If they managed their time efficiently, or rather, if Donghyuck cooperated, they could be nearly done and get any last minute things on Sunday.

Just then, a gasp from the other room catches Taeil’s attention, and he turns around to watch Donghyuck skid into the bedroom and almost lose his balance, eyes wide.

“What, Hyuck? What is it?” he asks immediately, brows furrowing at the look on his face.

Donghyuck reaches for his arm, wrapping both hands around his bicep and squeezing tight, before he whispers, “ _We’re out of range for Mom’s Touch_.”

“We’re huh?” He’d mumbled so quickly Taeil couldn’t even understand.

“Mom’s Touch! They don’t deliver here, it’s too far!” he cries, shaking Taeil’s arm like a rag doll.

As soon as he realizes what Donghyuck said, the sudden panic leaves his body just as quickly as it came.

“Are you serious, Hyuck?” 

Donghyuck looks offended, mouth hung open. “Of course I’m serious, why would I lie about that!” He lets go to hold his phone up inches from Taeil’s face. “Look right here, it says ‘ _cannot deliver to this address.'”_

Just as he’s about to throw his head back and wail again, Taeil cuts him off. “So there isn’t one around here, oh well. Good thing there’s about three _million_ other places we can get fried chicken.”

He moves to step around Donghyuck and go back into the main room, who’s left frozen. “How can you say that!” he shrieks. “That’s our favourite place!”

“It’ll help us to not get delivery so much anymore,” Taeil points out before he turns the corner. He hears Donghyuck scoff indignantly, and then muffled steps follow. “I’m guessing you didn’t order something yet?” he asks, not turning around.

There’s a pause, and then a sharp exhale. “No.” Taeil can practically see his pout, arms folded across his chest and shoulders tucked up.

He steals a glance. _Predictable,_ he thinks with a short laugh, which only makes Donghyuck scowl more. “Let’s pick something then, huh Hyuckie? I’m getting a little hungry,” he says sweetly.

He glowers at Taeil from the doorway for a long second, but he doesn’t falter. Finally, Donghyuck stomps over to put his phone in Taeil’s waiting hand so he can scroll through the other delivery options. Taeil murmurs a soft _thank you_ as he latches around his waist from the back, but not without a victorious grin. The bitter huff Donghyuck lets out tickles his skin and he squirms, but Donghyuck doesn’t let go.

“Okay, do you want chicken? What about this place?” He knows Donghyuck is looking over his shoulder, leaning back a little to offer a head bonk as he scans the meal choices. “It has good reviews, and it’s close by.”

Donghyuck gives in, pushing back and nosing against his cheek tenderly. “I want half-half,” he says, breath moving the tiny hairs on his face and sending an immediate shiver down Taeil’s spine.

He feels Donghyuck’s arms tighten as he chuckles, smacking an apologetic kiss where his lips had ghosted over and then resting his chin on his shoulder.

He places the order and waits for the confirmation to pop up before finally saying, “Twenty-five and you’re still the biggest baby I know.”

Donghyuck reaches over his shoulder to take his phone back and waltz around him. “Your baby,” he replies proudly. It wasn’t an insult for him, it never was.

“Mm,” Taeil says, waving him off with a laugh. “Find something to unpack while we wait for it to come.”

“Does the TV work yet?”

“DONGHYUCK.”

“Alright, alright!” He holds his hands up in surrender, but he’s grinning. “I’ll start in the bathroom.”

Taeil watches him disappear into the other room before turning to start on the first box labelled KITCHEN. He carefully unwraps dishes and smaller appliances and the extensive mug collection he and Donghyuck had amassed from various holidays and work trips over the years, many of which they never used but refused to throw out. He set their two favorite mugs, his a simple Starbucks one from Jeju with a comfortable handle and Donghyuck’s bear ears one, at the front of the shelf for easy access in the morning. Or any time of day, really, because they rarely drank from anything else.

He’d nearly finished the box when their doorbell rang, followed by a battle cry of “FOOD!” echoing through the apartment. Taeil laughs as he goes to answer the door, thanking the driver with a curt bow where he was already halfway back down the hall.

When he turns around, Donghyuck is already waiting on the floor, sitting criss-cross and watching excitedly. “Did you make some progress?” Taeil asks as he approaches and hands him the bag to rip open.

Donghyuck nods as he digs the boxes out like he’s going to die if he doesn’t eat immediately. Even in his haste, though, he snaps the wooden chopsticks for both of them and hands the first pair to Taeil, which he accepts gratefully. He rips a mouthful off a seasoned piece before Taeil can even open the other box and sits back with a contented sigh.

“Good?” Taeil asks with a chuckle before choosing a piece for himself and raising it to his mouth.

Eating on the floor isn’t completely foreign to them, but the way his voice echoes around the empty room is a constant reminder of their bare surroundings. The room is bigger than their previous living room, but it feels especially hollow with nothing in it, a total blank slate.

“First meal in the new apartment,” Taeil comments absently. “Should we take a picture?”

He’s half joking, but Donghyuck’s eyes light up and he shoves the rest of his piece in his mouth to scramble for his phone. In a split second, he’s leaning over and they’re reflected in his screen, chicken bone poking out of Donghyuck’s shiny lips and all.

Taeil’s laughing as he snaps a few photos, too distracted to even look at the camera as he pokes at Donghyuck’s stuffed chipmunk cheeks. He quickly chews and swallows, cleaning the bone between his teeth before setting it down and going back to his phone.

He flips through them and his smile grows. “Doyoung will love these,” he declares, holding up his phone to show Taeil his own laughing face next to Donghyuck, who has sauce smeared on his cheek and looks like he’s nearly choking with how full his mouth is. Taeil chuckles at their attempt at a commemorating photo, but he still thinks it screams _them_ more than any posed photo could.

They finish eating with minimal chaos and only one dropped piece of chicken, which Donghyuck catches in his hand to spare his slacks but _immediately_ regrets. He washes the sauce out of the crevices of his fingers as Taeil cleans up the rest of the trash before finding him in the bathroom again.

“We don’t have any soap,” Donghyuck whines to him as he scrubs his sticky hand under the running water.

“Or hand towels,” Taeil observes, and Donghyuck’s eyes shoot to the hook where a towel should be hanging. Before he can whine again, Taeil chuckles, “I thought you said you unpacked the bathroom stuff.”

“Ilie, help me.” He turns big, pitiful eyes on Taeil, hands dripping over the sink basin.

Taeil runs a hand along the back of his shoulders as he passes Donghyuck to dig through the first box he’d apparently opened but not taken anything out of. Luckily, the packers had used their towels as extra padding on the sides, so it wasn’t hard to pull one out and shake it out.

Still smiling, he hands it to a relieved Donghyuck, who snatches it up immediately. When his hands are dry, he hangs it up and turns around in the small space to be face-to-face, or rather mouth-to-nose, with Taeil. “Thank you,” he breathes through curved lips.

Knowing Donghyuck enjoyed flaunting his three extra centimeters of height any chance he got, Taeil hops onto his tiptoes to regain some superiority. “You’re welcome,” he giggles when Donghyuck grumbles and takes a half step back. “Now go unpack the rest of that box.”

“Yessir.” Donghyuck mimics an army salute and Taeil shoves his arm as he tries to shimmy around him to get out of the bathroom. Donghyuck doesn’t let him go without catching his lips in an equal-height kiss, which Taeil indulges him in for a short moment before breaking away to return to the kitchen.

“When your box is empty, we can be done for the day, Hyuck-ah.”

Donghyuck cheers, and Taeil laughs as he turns the corner.

\---

He manages to get through the rest of his first kitchen box and makes a good dent in a second one before the clap of an empty box Donghyuck drops on the floor startles him.

“Jesus, Donghyuck!” he exclaims, clutching a glass jar of something pickled his mom had given him. “I could’ve dropped this, and we don’t have any cleaning supplies.”

“But you didn’t.” He grins, chest puffed out as he sticks a proud finger at the cardboard. “I finished the whole box.”

Taeil tries not to chuckle, resisting the urge to pat him on the top of his head the way he knows he hates. “Good job, baby. Give me a second to put this away and I’ll be done. Break that box down, will you?”

Donghyuck gets to work ripping the tape off the bottom of the box while Taeil finds a home for the jar in the fridge. When he’s done, he makes his way to Donghyuck’s side.

“Here.” He hands Donghyuck his keys from his pocket. “Cut it with this.”

Mumbling a thank you, he gives up and takes them. The tape slices easily, and Donghyuck has the box folded flat and sitting by the door in a minute.

“Done now?” he asks as he walks back to Taeil, and he nods.

Taking one last look at the empty room, he flips the light switch and follows Donghyuck to their bedroom. “I can’t wait to get some furniture in there. It feels so weird all empty.”

Donghyuck hums in agreement. “That’s tomorrow’s problem. It’s been a long day.” He flips the light on and groans, suddenly remembering they _really_ don’t have any furniture, including a bed.

Taeil slips around him in the doorway. “I put most of our clothes away, there should be some pyjamas and stuff.” He points at the wardrobe. “I’m gonna look for our duvet.”

Most of the boxes ended up in their bedroom, and Taeil wiggles them around to find the one labelled BEDDING. Donghyuck quickly changes out of his slacks and throws on a t-shirt and sleep pants before joining the hunt. 

“Here, this one.” He slides one out from the back that looks like it’s ready to explode.

Taeil only slices a few centimeters of tape before it does just that, white linen expanding as it’s released from its constraints. They giggle as they pull out pillows and the duvet to let it puff up again.

“Okay, now,” Taeil stands back with a hand on his hip, “the mattress.”

Together, they drag it out from behind the boxes where it leans against the wall, letting it fall flat on the floor and stirring up all the dust bunnies in the room upon impact.

They push it against the wall easily. “We can decide where we want it later,” Taeil says, and Donghyuck pulls the fitted sheet out of the bottom of the box. 

They wrestle with the sheet together until it’s secured around the edges, and then Taeil leaves Donghyuck to situate the bedding while he changes into a t-shirt and shorts. Setting their day clothes beside the wardrobe because they don’t have a hamper or chair or _anywhere_ else to put it, he’s careful not to crease them too much and then goes back to Donghyuck’s side.

Wrapping an arm around his waist, they stand back to look at their temporary set up. “Looks pretty good to me,” Donghyuck says to him, and Taeil chuckles.

“It’ll do for tonight,” he agrees, before tugging him towards the door. “Let’s go brush our teeth.”

In the bathroom, Taeil is pleasantly surprised to find it mostly put together. The shower has their shampoos and conditioners and the sink has a bottle of soap and their toothbrushes sit in the cup they’ve had for years. It feels new and different but it also feels familiar, like it’s not home yet but it could be.

“I did a good job, huh?” Donghyuck beams, and Taeil smiles as he grabs his toothbrush.

“Yes, you did.” He smears toothpaste before handing the tube to Donghyuck, wetting his toothbrush and stuffing it in his mouth.

They stare at each other in the mirror as foam collects on their lips and make funny faces as they try not to laugh and spit it everywhere, like always. New bathroom, same routine.

Taeil spits his toothpaste first, wiping his lips and rinsing his mouth quickly before stepping back for Donghyuck to do the same.

“I’m gonna wash my face quickly, you can go ahead,” Donghyuck tells him, so Taeil nods and steps out into the hall again.

To the right, the living room and kitchen are dark except for the dull reflection of the city lights through the window. It’s eerie, having a hallway and so much extra space to fill when all they’ve ever known together was Taeil’s tiny studio. Never in his life did he think he’d call two rooms ‘too much space’, and he might’ve told Donghyuck the opposite earlier, but he does miss the cramped clutter of their home for nearly 3 years.

Their _old_ home.

Turning away, he goes left instead, back to their bedroom. The mattress is lonely and sticks out in the space, with only the pyramid of boxes in the opposite corner to show any sign of life. Even with their bedding on it, it doesn’t feel like theirs.

Determined, Taeil goes back to the boxes, digging for a specific one he labelled himself. When he finds it, he pulls it out and rips the top open. Right on top, just where he’d packed it, is the blanket Donghyuck’s mom had given him a few Christmases ago. Fittingly, it was green and red and usually it didn’t smell of anything to him but when he raises it to bury his nose in, it smells like their old laundry detergent and Donghyuck’s shampoo and like _home._

He spreads it across their duvet, high enough that he can pull it under his chin to sleep. When he stands back, Donghyuck is there waiting.

“You found the blanket,” he says, looping an arm around his waist reflexively. Taeil nods without a word, resting a hand on the one that sits over his belly button and tipping his head against Donghyuck’s temple. “You okay?” he hears, closer to his ear now, but still quieter.

Is he okay? He thinks so. Adjusting is hard, and change is hard, and it’ll take time. He feels better just with Donghyuck back, so he nods again. He feels Donghyuck lean away for a moment, and then his lips are on the arch of his cheekbone, sweet and gentle and leaving warmth when they’re gone again.

“Let’s go to bed,” Donghyuck murmurs, letting his hand fall so that Taeil can walk around to his side of the bed.

Instead of doing that, Taeil just squats down and crawls across the bed to his side. He turns, sits down, and looks up at Donghyuck, who just grins at him. It’s the last thing he sees before Donghyuck flips the switch and the room is cloaked in near complete darkness.

They don’t have any lamps yet but there isn’t much to stumble over, and Taeil feels the dip in the bed before there are arms blindly dragging him to lay down. He obeys, wiggling to get his legs under the covers and scoot down far enough that his head hits the pillow. When it does, he turns to find Donghyuck.

They meet in the middle, tangled limbs and pressed together. Donghyuck pushes into his chest, head on Taeil’s upper arm instead of his pillow and a leg hooked around his own. Taeil feels his every exhale in warm breaths that tickle the center of his ribs, and soothing fingers drag up and down his back, keeping him close. Taeil twists one hand into the back of Donghyuck’s hair and the other firmly around the blanket, pulling it over Donghyuck’s shoulders.

Donghyuck’s head tips upwards a little. “Are you cold?”

“No,” Taeil answers, continuing to fiddle with the blanket. He isn’t cold, in fact Donghyuck is a furnace against his entire front half, but he wants the blanket close.

He feels Donghyuck’s throat bob against his bicep. “The bed frame will be delivered tomorrow, and the rest of the furniture. We can spend all day building everything.”

“I know.” Taeil’s logical brain tells him when everything is set up and cleaned and organized, things will feel normal. It will feel like their home.

“What is it, Ilie?”

Taeil sucks in a deep breath, and then lets it out slowly. What _is_ it? He can’t put a finger on it exactly. Nothing is wrong, but nothing is exactly right, either.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Donghyuck asks him, and it’s just a simple question, but it makes Taeil jolt with how much his body screams—

“ _No_ , baby, of course not,” he rushes out, shocked that the thought would even cross his mind. “Never. Not even for a split second.” He had never doubted it at any step along the way, that this is what he wanted. To be by Donghyuck’s side, wherever it took him. He’d known it from the first month, he’d said it in his vows, he felt it every day.

He corrects his own thoughts from earlier. Nothing was right except for _Donghyuck_. Donghyuck made it all a little more right, always.

Donghyuck seems to think over his response for a moment, and then he loosens a little in Taeil’s arms.

Taeil hugs him tighter. “It’s just… different, you know?” He breathes out, but it comes out shaky. “This room doesn’t feel like, like ours. This doesn’t feel like our home.”

“Yet,” Donghyuck says. “It will.”

Donghyuck was always so quick to try and soothe Taeil’s worries, no matter what they were. Always reassuring, always supportive, like it was second nature for him.

“We’ll do it together,” he continues in Taeil’s silence. “We’ll make it perfect, just how we want it. We can paint the walls, we can get tons of plants, we can even get a cat. We can do anything we want.”

“As long as it’s in budget,” Taeil can’t help but comment, and they shake with hushed laughter in each other’s arms. He’s reminded again that anything they did, anywhere they went, Donghyuck would make everything alright. 

“We’ll do it, okay?” Donghyuck is determined enough for the both of them. “Make this place ours.”

“Okay,” Taeil agrees, because he’s slowly realizing that the budget didn’t matter. They didn’t need painted walls or new furniture to make this place theirs, they just needed each other.

He places a gentle kiss to the crown of the head tucked into him and releases the blanket he’d gripped so tightly to encircle the _real_ thing that gave him safety wherever he went. “Our home?” he says softly, like he’s asking for a promise. A metaphorical pinky in the air.

He feels Donghyuck nod against him. “Our home,” he repeats, locking their pinkies and pressing their thumbs together. “We’ll make this our home.”

And for the first time, in his heart, Taeil truly believes him.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, i hope i did hyuckil justice! let me know what you thought~


End file.
